Bang is on level “F” readers now. I know that doesn’t make much sense to you, but he started the school year on “A”. He’s advanced 5 levels since September. He’s figuring out words faster than Usain finds the finish line. So when he (Bang, not Usain) was reading Fantastic Frogs last night it mentioned one type that keeps its babies in its mouth. This would be the Darwin frog. Its offspring hatch and develop inside its mouth. Inside it vocal sack to be more precise. As a dad who is involved with his own kids, I can relate to this frog. Its the male Darwin frog that hatches and releases its offspring. Then there is the Surinam toad which raises its young inside its back. Not ON, but IN. Eggs are laid on its back then the frog grows a second layer of skin over them for their protection. After the toads develop, they come climbing out.

You’re welcome

2. What do nerves look like?

Bragging session:

We’ve been talking a lot about human anatomy. Brains mostly, but other things too. Vertebrae. Spinal discs. The nervous system. He was wondering what the messages that our brains send to various parts of our body look like. He thought maybe they were like e-mail. So I did a quick search on YouTube and found this video – a crash course. Amazingly enough, he was tuned right into it. He probably would have watched all 10 minutes of it had we not had to leave for school. That day I substituted in high school and in one of the classes they were watching these same videos! I don’t mean to brag (yes I do) but maybe he’ll be doctor surgeon when he grows up.

I know I just answered this question like a politician. I didn’t answer it at all. There’s no way for me to describe it other than tell you it’s much like an electrical system. If you want to know more, watch that video. It’s both informative and entertaining.

Also, you can expect anatomy questions every week now…

3. When should I start my vegetable seeds indoors?

This is my question. In my eternal hope for spring and my desire to grow a successful veggie garden here in Canadaland, I need to know this. Plant them too early and they’ll be ready to transplant outside before the last frost. Plant them too late and they won’t grow proper veggies. The last frost in our zone is scheduled for May 6th. 6 week before that (because that’s how long most seeds need to mature enough to be moved outdoors) would be March 25th. Last Saturday. I’m good to plant now! This year I may spray my plants. We went organic last year and the broccoli was inedible due to worm infestation. The peppers were great, though!

4. What are these ovals?

I’m slowly getting over my fear of these questions. Bang, standing naked as a blue jay outside the bathroom door with his hands between his legs. Yes, those ovals. Trying not to laugh hysterically as his big brother was listening too, I told him those were his testicles.

“No, the ovals inside!” he clarified. Yes, buddy, those are your testicles, too. He always called that part his bungee and it was the part that held pee until a plunger pushed it out of his pee pee. Naturally, he followed this up with, “What are they for?” I gave him a simple answer in hopes that the subject would get changed. I simply told him, “They hold your babies when you’re grown up.” Technically, it’s only 1/2 the baby, but still, it was good enough and he went on his way, thankfully, with no more questions.

I think you got off easy with that last one. Little Man recently discovered that he, in fact, has two testicles. He thought he grew an extra one, but Sam had to break it to him that it’d been there all along.

And Sam’s a good day for telling him the truth. I would have let him think he was special for having two. Would have been hilarious if he told some girls, “I’ve got two” like he was bragging about it 🙂

Good teaching!
LMAO about the testicles…. I get too many questions from my 3.5yo girl about my lady parts versus hers, and finding simple answers for her are surprisingly hard. My goal is to answer her question satisfyingly yet ambiguously and quickly change the subject – princesses are always a good diversion! I can’t handle this stuff yet…!

hahahahhah! oh..those anatomical questions! Squirt now has a habit of pulling down his pants and mooning his friends. As well as flashing his penis *gasps* He thinks its funny, and obviously we don’t think so. I really hope it’s a phase. Please tell me it;s normal!

Mine’s a bouncy castle too 🙂 That made me laugh out loud! And how do nerves look? Well push me over the edge and you will see 😉 Yep, they got me on 1 April. Actually Tennis Australia got me but claiming that next year they will sell on court seating right next to the chair umpire and posted a pic of a more or less T shaped umpire chair with two seats left and right from him. And I was actually thinking about how much those seats would cost and wondering how much fun it would be to listen to them complain while sitting down… Oh well…

My youngest (5) kept drawing and coloring pictures of food (cookies, donuts, etc…) and bring them to me asking me if I wanted said food item. I kept having to pretend it was real until I took a bite and waited for him to holler “April Fools!”. I can only imagine what would have happened by 4pm had your ban not been set in place!